e-Filing in Federal CourtPractical Tips and Best Practices

Presented via Zoom WebinarTuesday, April 28, 2020 at 12pm EST

Speaker: Samuel Plett

1

IMPORTANT NOTE:This presentation is to be read in conjunction

with the “e-Filing Toolkit” prepared and distributed by the Federal Court. This

presentation is intended to supplement the “e-Filing Toolkit” by providing practical tips and best practices. It is not intended as an

exhaustive resource on e-Filing.

2

Overview

1. Overview of e-Filing and FAQ2. Hardware and Software Requirements3. Document Formatting Rules and Standards4. Collecting and Formatting Your Documents5. Compiling your Submission (e.g. Applicant’s

Record in an IMM Judicial Review)

3

1. Overview of e-Filing and FAQ

4

DRAFT1. Overview of e-Filing and FAQ

4

Ø Benefits of e-Filingü Increased practice efficiency üReduction of overhead costsüEnhanced ability to provide legal services to under-represented

communities (by reducing time and overhead costs) üEnhanced work/life balance opportunities (ability to file Court

materials remotely; enhanced ability to telecommute for litigation counsel)

üReduced environmental footprint

5

Ø Brief demonstration of e-Filing Portal (https://www.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/pages/online-access/e-filing)

6

Ø Overview of e-Filing(i) General reminders

üYou can e-File any document (except documents subject to confidentiality orders)

üCall the Registry before e-Filing an urgent document (and mark the filing as “urgent” in the online e-Filing portal when prompted)

üThe Rules still apply – the Rules are ‘format neutral’üElectronic service requires consentüUploading to e-Filing portal means the document is submitted for

filing; Registry Officer must review and accept it

7

Ø Overview of e-Filing(ii) Filing Deadlines

üAll filing deadlines apply to e-FilingüWhen a document is submitted and accepted by a Registry

Officer, the document is deemed filed at the date/time it was submitted (EST)

üA document uploaded to the portal on a holiday is deemed filed the next day that is not a holiday

8

Ø Overview of e-Filing(iii) What Happens After I Submit (Upload)?

üA Registry Officer reviews your materialsü If the materials comply with the Rules they will be accepted for

filingü If the materials do not comply with the Rules they will be refused

for filing (as with any paper filing)ü If your materials do not comply with the formatting standards, you

may be asked to re-submit in the proper format

9

Ø Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)(i) What is the difference between e-Filing and the e-Process Pilot

(Toronto Office)?üe-Filing is a process whereby any party can submit any

document for filing via an Internet-based portal (subject to certain exceptions). Using e-Filing does not create a different process. It merely replaces paper filing with electronic filing for that specific document.

üThe e-Process Pilot is a limited pilot program (Toronto office IMM files only) where a party can opt-in to a fully electronic proceeding if the file meets certain criteria.

10

Ø Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)(ii) What can I do if my submission is over the 100MB size limit?

üYou can use several techniques to ‘compress’ your .pdf (see “e-Filing Toolkit”)

üYou can try re-scanning at a lower resolutionüYou can divide your submissions into multiple ‘volumes’

(following the guidance in the “e-Filing Toolkit”)

11

2. Hardware and Software Requirements

12

Hardware Requirements for e-Filing

• You do not require any particular hardware platform to use the e-Filing system

• You will need:

– A computer (PC or Mac)

– A scanner (unless all your materials are already digitized)

13

Software Requirements for e-Filing

• You do not require any particular software platform to use the e-Filing system

• You may be able to meet the basic formatting requirements (OCR and bookmarks) with free software

• To maximize efficiency and user-friendliness, you will likely require a software suite that allows you to edit .pdf files (see examples in “e-Filing Toolkit”) 14

3. Document Formatting Rules and Standards

15

Ø Rules vs Standards vs Best Practices(i) Formatting Rules

üThe Rules contain requirements that must be metü If you do not follow the Rules, your filing may be refusedüSee especially Rules 65-66 (including rules on legibility, font size

and type, margins, maximum number of lines, etc.)üDocuments must be legibleüSee “e-Filing Toolkit” for guidance on electronic signatures and

pagination in e-Filed documents

16

Ø Rules vs Standards vs Best Practices(ii) Formatting Standards

üA set of formatting guidelines set out by the CourtüFailure to follow the formatting standards will not result in a

refusal of your filingüHowever, the Court expects these formatting standards to be

followed

17

Ø Rules vs Standards vs Best Practices(ii) Formatting Standards (cont’d)

üThere are only 3 basic formatting standards:1. Documents must be in .pdf format2. All typed documents must be searchable (using Optical

Character Recognition, or ‘OCR’) technology3. You must insert digital “Bookmarks” wherever you would insert

a physical ‘tab’ if filing on paper

18

Ø Rules vs Standards vs Best Practices(iii) Best Practices

üAdditional features that make your documents more user-friendly and easy to navigate (e.g. hyperlinks)

üThe ‘best practices’ listed in the “e-Filing Toolkit” are notrequired, but highly recommended

ü It is to your advantage to make your document as easy to navigate as possible

19

4. Collecting and Formatting Your Documents

20

Ø Creating a Searchable .pdf üThis is done through a technology called Optical Character

Recognition (‘OCR’)üThere are two ways to use OCR to create a searchable .pdf:

1. Using the OCR features of your physical scanner2. Using the OCR features of your .pdf software

21

Ø Creating a Searchable .pdf (cont’d)üThe quality of OCR solutions can vary – take time to test the

quality of your OCRüWhen scanning a physical document, try to keep the number of

‘reproductions’ as low as possibleüWherever possible, convert typewritten documents directly to .pdf

using software solutionsüOCR scans are generally not very effective in converting

handwritten text (quality varies)

22

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Software suites provide powerful tools for editing documents after they are scanned. It is very important that you ensure that the

document is not altered in any way either during the process of creating the .pdf; or after the .pdf is created.

23

Ø Scanning a Physical DocumentüTake time to find the optimal resolution (balancing file size and

quality)üText can be scanned at relatively low resolutions

24

Ø Reducing Your File SizeüRecall: the maximum upload size is 100MBüConsider whether colour is necessary (B&W leads to much

smaller file sizes)üTry re-scanning the documents at a lower resolution (as long as

they are still clear and legible)üUse your .pdf software to compress the digital file (see tips in “e-

Filing Toolkit”)

25

Ø What If My File is Still Too Large?üConsider submitting in multiple ‘volumes’ (as you would with

large paper records)üBe sure to clearly label all volumes and include a full Table of

Contents/Index in each volumeüBe sure to include a cover letter clearly indicating that the

submissions are being uploaded in volumesüContact the Registry for further guidance if necessary

26

Ø Converting Existing Digital Files to .pdf

(i) Image Files (e.g. .png, .jpg)üBe cautious when using the “create .pdf” function using an image

file à this creates a .pdf with the same dimensions as the image üWe recommend you use the “print to .pdf” function (uses a virtual

‘printer’ to ensure that the resulting .pdf is a regular 8 ½ x 11 size to match the rest of the pages in a record)

üSee demonstration

27

Ø Converting Existing Digital Files to .pdf

(ii) Typewritten document (e.g. Microsoft Word)üWhenever possible convert directly from your word processing

software (e.g. MS Word) to .pdfüTip: when using Microsoft Styles headings you can instruct MS

Word to convert your headings into bookmarks in the .pdf (Windows only) – see demonstration

28

Ø DemonstrationsüRunning an OCR scanüCombining multiple files into a .pdfüPaginating your .pdf files ü Inserting bookmarksü Inserting hyperlinks

29

5. Compiling your Submission (e.g. Applicant’s Record in an

IMM Judicial Review)

30

Ø DemonstrationsüCompiling individual ‘tabs’üCompiling ‘tabs’ into recordüSetting and formatting bookmarksüTesting OCR scanüUsing digital signaturesüPaginating your recordü Inserting hyperlinks

ü Table of contentsü Footnotesü Case law

31